


Four Times Kara Didn't Wake Up and One Time She Did

by BridgetteIrish



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Cat Grant Knows Kara Danvers Is Supergirl, Comatose Kara, Danvers Sisters, Danvers family, F/F, Gen, Mon-El tries really hard not to be the worst, Pre-Relationship, Space Dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-03-05 01:16:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13377045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BridgetteIrish/pseuds/BridgetteIrish
Summary: Kara's friends and family come to visit after her fight with Reign.  They talk to her while she sleeps.  Confessions are made.





	Four Times Kara Didn't Wake Up and One Time She Did

**Author's Note:**

> A huge thanks to reginalovesemma for helping me wrestle this one to the ground. As always, my friend, I couldn't have done it without you. You make my work so much better.

Alex

  
It was quiet in the med-bay when Alex came in to check on Kara.  She busied herself with checking fluid levels, response to meds, her IV ports and vitals.  They’d been able to remove the breathing tube a few hours ago when her lungs stabilized.  The sunlamps were working, but not nearly fast enough.  Kara wasn’t out of the woods yet and the crushing weight that had settled in Alex’s chest grew a bit heavier.  The weight, like an immovable anvil, had been sitting there since Kara had walked out of the DEO, hell-bent on fighting Reign on her own, with Alex’s plea to “be alien” in her ears and the fires of Krypton burning in her eyes.  Alex knew in that moment it may be the last time she saw her sister alive, but she’d pushed the thought down and willed Kara to win.

But Kara hadn’t won.  She’d lost.  And now she lay broken and silent and Alex couldn’t bear the silence of the room broken only by the beep of Kara’s heart monitor, reminding her that her sister is alive, but not really here.

A single sob rang out through the room and Alex collapsed on the chair next to Kara’s bed.  Her hand slid across the cool white sheet and clasped around Kara’s, squeezing gently.  The tears finally poured down her cheeks as she choked on her breaths.

“You need to come back to us, Kara.  I know it hurts.  I know how much your life hurts right now and how much easier it would be to sleep it away, but we need you Kara.  I… I need you.  I need my sister.”  She sat up and pulled the chair closer to the bed, folding her other hand over the one holding Kara’s.  “I told you to be alien tonight.  I told you that thinking it would keep you safe, but I was wrong.  Your warmth, your compassion, your belief in good, your heart, your humanity.  It’s the best part about you.”  She wiped her eyes and stroked Kara’s forearm, willing it to move.  “Wake up.”  She began to feel anger rise from the weight on her chest, burning hot and fierce.  “Goddammit, Kara.  Wake. Up.”  She stood now, towering over Kara and with gritted teeth she promised, “I crawled into your mind once to save you from yourself, Kara Danvers and so help me I will do it again.”  Her voice broke and she leaned against the window next to the bed and let the sobs come.  “Please,” she gasped through her tears.  “Please.”

“Alex.”  
  
“Mom.”  Alex looked up, startled and met Eliza’s stark, kind eyes.  She watched Alex’s face crumple again and her heart broke before she’d even laid eyes on Kara.

Eliza’s handbag fell to the floor as she opened her arms to accept her daughter.  The last few minutes had done most of the work, but the hug finished the job of dissolving Alex into sobs against her mother’s slender shoulder.  She squeezed Alex as tight as she could.  She’d never be able to deliver the all-consuming hugs Kara could when Alex was at her weakest, but she poured her love into Alex as best she could as she stroked a hand up and down her back and whispered in her ear.  “She’s strong and she’s healthy and she’s a fighter, Alex.  We taught her that.  She’s survived so much, sweetheart.  She’ll survive this too.  You need to believe in her.”

Alex nodded and pulled away.  She managed a wobbly smile as she allowed Eliza to brush the tears from her cheeks with her thumbs.  “Did you bring the samples?”

Eliza nodded.  “I dropped them by the lab on my way in.  They’ve been cryo-preserved for over a decade, Alex.  I don’t know how much good they’ll be.”

“I know.  But they’re from when she first landed, before she had full powers.  If there’s any integrity left, I can figure out the rate her de-powered cells absorbed radiation, I can maybe speed up her healing faster than the sun can.”

Eliza squeezed Alex’s hands.  “Off you go then.  I’ll be in to help in a bit.  I need to talk to your sister.”

“Yeah, of course.”  Alex crossed to Kara and placed a loving kiss on her forehead.  “There’s a pint of Chunky Monkey in my freezer with your name on it, but I’m not spoon-feeding it to you, so you need to get better first.  Love you, sis.”  She gave Eliza another one-armed hug on her way out the door.  “Thanks, mom.”

 

Eliza

Eliza watched Alex until she turned a corner and disappeared into her lab.  She’d be there until someone else drug her out to eat or sleep, or until she found a solution.

She perched herself on Kara’s bed in the open space next to her hip.

She lifted Kara’s hand into her lap and gave it a loving squeeze as her other hand reached up to stroke golden waves from Kara’s forehead.  So many times after Kara had landed, the world would overwhelm her.  The wind stung her skin or the ocean waves sounded like roaring in her sensitive ears.  The scent of the pines made her head ache and the sun was so bright she could barely open her eyes.  On those days, Eliza would shut the windows and blinds, tuck Kara into bed with the softest cotton t-shirt and the lightest jersey sheets and stroke her hair until she was able to fall asleep.  As the bad days became fewer and fewer, Kara needed Eliza’s comfort less and less.  And while Eliza was thrilled and relieved that Kara had learned to cope and gain control over her powers, she missed these quiet moments with her lost little girl from the stars.

“Hi sweetheart.”  She was choking up already, but she powered through in the hopes that the sound of her voice would bring Kara some comfort in whatever dreamworld she occupied at this moment.  “You got yourself pretty banged up, I see.  But me and your sister, we’re gonna make sure you feel better soon, okay?  We need you to come back to us, Kara.  This family isn’t whole without you.”

Kara had never really believed that, and Eliza knew it.  No matter how many times she’d told Kara she loved her or did her best to make her home the one Kara wanted to come back to, she always knew that Kara felt like a stranger in their lives, like the oil that sits on top of the water.  But Eliza had never felt that way.  She’d just never been able to convince Kara of it.

“Listen to me, Kara Zor El.  I know we never really talk much about your place in this family.  And I know we avoid the subject like it might leave a crater in both of our lives, but I need you to know something.  Something that has been true since the day you set foot in our front yard, squeezing Clark’s hand hard enough to leave marks.  You belong here.  In this family.  In my heart.  I love you.”  A tear spilled down her cheek.  “I love you, Kara, like you were my own little girl.  I know you remember your mom, and you love her very much, and it’s why I never pushed you to call me Mom.  But you are my daughter, as surely as Alex is.”  

She sniffed and focused on Kara’s hand, taking it between both of hers.  “I’m sorry, Kara.  For every time I allowed you to stay at arm’s length.  For every time I made you suppress those magnificent powers.  For every time I wasn’t there to help you after Jeremiah…”

Eliza wiped her eyes and squeezed Kara’s hand.  “I’ve watched you this past year, sweetie, and I know how much pain you’ve been in.  I know you tried so hard to be happy at your job and with Mon-El and with Supergirl.  And I know that the harder you tried, the further away from your true self you got.  I should have helped you sooner than now.  Maybe if I had, today would have gone differently.  Maybe you would have had more belief in yourself.  Maybe you could have saved her, rather than fought her.”  She shook her head.  “We all should have been more present for you these past few months.  Wake up, Kara, and I promise you, I’ll be around more.  You have my word.  Just, please, please wake up for me.”

Kara remained silent and still, her blue eyes closed and restful.  Eliza took a single deep breath and raised Kara’s hand to her lips.  “Rest, sweet girl.  I’ll see you when you wake up.”

“She’s in a peaceful, happy place, or, her mind is.”

The voice startled Eliza and she jumped to her feet.  “J’onn.”

He demurred a bit and stopped in the doorway. “I just came to check on her.”  He stood stock still and crossed his hands behind his back.

“No.  No, it’s fine.  Of course you can see her.  I need to go help Alex try to find a healing agent.”  She shifted her weight and tucked her hands in the back pockets of her jeans.  “You… said she was in a good place?  In her mind?”  One of her hands made a vague thinking gesture above her head.

J’onn nodded.  “I don’t mean to pry.  I just… like to make sure she isn’t trapped in pain or trying to tell us something.  But she’s resting in a place she always felt safe.”

“You don’t need to explain yourself.  You’ve never done anything but look out for my girls.  I know you’d never hurt her.”

J’onn could only nod, a lump had formed in his throat.  Eliza stood in front of him and placed a hand on his chest.  “Just keep her safe.  Alex and I will get her better.”  She walked past him leaving him alone in the room with her.

 

J’onn

 

J’onn crossed to her bed and stood next to it.  He reached for her but pulled back.  He knew, from the little time he’d spent in her head, that she remained in considerable pain, despite the peaceful dreamworld she’d created for herself.  He recognized the place, a balcony at the top of the world.  She sat alone on a pristine but comfortable sofa, looking up at a pinkish-red sky.  Far below, waves crashed against a rocky beach.  Kara had taken every safe space she’d ever known and blended them in her mind to create a world where she could ride out her pain free from worry.  He resisted going deeper into her thoughts.

He remained on the balcony with her, though.  It settled him somehow to keep her company.  He crossed to the chair across from her sofa.  Her legs were tucked underneath her on the cushion, her head rested against her hand.  She didn’t look at him, but he knew she was aware of his presence.  “What can I do, Kara?”  He didn’t reach for her.  He wouldn’t be able to touch her here.  This place existed only in her mind.  “Your family is worried.  I’m worried.”

She looked up at him, tears in her eyes.  “I’m tired, J’onn.  The fact that you’re even able to join me here proves how tired I am.  Every day is a fight.  Every moment feels like I’m just… hanging on.”  She looked around at her surroundings, taking in the balcony and the sky.  He recognized it as the place she and Cat Grant would often meet.  

“God, I miss it here,” Kara mused.  “I miss  _ her _ .  I’m not supposed to.  I’m supposed to let her dive.  Watch her try new things and climb new ladders and explore new worlds.  And she’s supposed to let me do all of those things too.  And she is.  She’s… left… all this behind and she’s re-inventing herself.  From the ground up.  She crawled into a cocoon in Bhutan and emerged a fledgling politician.  She didn’t just dip her toe in new waters.  She dove in head first.  And she’s still just breaking the surface.  She’s learning so much, so fast.  She’ll conquer the U.S. Government too soon enough.  Just watch.”

J’onn listened patiently to her stream of consciousness.  “And you?” He prompted when she finally quieted.  

“I’m… stuck.  When my career floundered, I clung to Mon-El, hoping to find something like happiness, but that always just felt like more work.  So, when work was work and trying to keep up some kind of relationship with Alex felt like work, and being Supergirl felt like work and being with Mon-El was always this heavy emotional  _ work _ , especially now that he’s… unavailable.  I just ended up feeling tired.”  J’onn raised his eyebrow in silent permission for her to continue.  

“Miss Grant wanted me to dive.  All I’ve done is stand on the platform, looking down, practicing the motions.”  Kara twisted her hands together and furrowed her brow.  “She inspires me so much, but I’m so afraid.  And honestly?  Without her here to celebrate my victories, I’m having trouble seeing the point.  It all feels kind of… empty.”  J’onn didn’t need to delve deeper into Kara’s psyche to read the longing in her heart.  He always knew Cat Grant was important to Kara, but it wasn’t until this moment that he knew how much.  Kara sighed.  “Maybe losing the fight with Reign was an excuse to get some rest.”

J’onn didn’t believe that for a moment, but he did agree the rest was good for her at the moment.

“The most important thing is that you get well, Kara.  Take your time.  When you wake up, we’re going to figure this all out.”  He met her eyes.  “I promise.”

She smiled, genuinely enough that her eyes crinkled, like they used to do when she was happy.  “Kay.”

“Rest,” he commanded, and he exited her mind.  Standing now in the stark med bay, he gave Kara’s motionless shoulder an affectionate squeeze and turned to go.

If he had been a mere human without superhuman reflexes, he would have collided with a frantic Mon-El entering the med bay.

“Hey.”  Mon-El backed up and shoved his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.  “Sorry.”

“No you’re not.” J’onn had never had a very high opinion of him.  He had tolerated him for Kara’s sake, but he always struck J’onn as something of an ill-behaved pet.  He was constantly underfoot, trying to help where he was unwanted or unneeded and had caused him more HR headaches than he cared to remember, and that was before he left.  Since his return, Kara had wilted like a malnourished flower and J’onn was having trouble reigning in his anger around Mon-El.  “Be quick.  She needs rest, not more reminders of what she’s lost.”

Mon-El had the sense to look ashamed as he brushed past him.  

 

Mon-El

 

He didn’t sit next to her, or hold her hand or show any affection at all.  Instead he leaned against the wall next to where her head rested, still and angelic on the pillow.

Guilt sat heavy in his chest.  There was so much he had done wrong when it came to Kara, since the moment they met, he had taken nothing but wrong turns.  He never said the right thing, or made the right choice, or took the time to even find out what the right thing was.  He had wanted her so much back then.  It had never occurred to him to question if he was any good for her.  He hadn’t been.  He knew that now.  And being back was only making it worse.  She was so beautiful and strong.  And now she was broken.  

“I, uh, don’t know if you can hear me.  And, I know I have no right to even be here.  If J’onn had your laser vision, I’d be a stain on the floor right now.  But, I need to talk to you.  Maybe I’ll be able to say this to you while you look me in my eyes someday.  Until then… anyway.”  He shifted his weight and leaned against the bedrail.  “You need to know, Kara, that I never stopped loving you, not once in seven years.  But…” he heaved a sigh and bowed his head.  “But you don’t hold onto me forever.  There’s so much you don’t know about your future, so much I’m not supposed to tell you, but you deserve to know.”  He wiped tears from his face and gripped the handrail harder.  

“You… are legendary in my time, Kara.  In the 31st century, you’re a celebrated part of history.  And… not just you.  You do find love.  Great love, okay?  Epic love.  It’s the kind of love people write songs and stories and poems about.  Parents sing about your love to their children.  You’re written about in books and movies.  You have stars and planets named for you, and for your wife.  Everyone dreams of the kind of love you find, Kara.”  

He finally sat in the chair and leaned forward on his knees.  “I love Imra.  She saved me in so many ways.  But, honestly, even if I didn’t have her.  Even if it had just been me who came back.  I could never go back to what we had before because… because what you have coming is so much better, Kara.”  He was crying openly now.  “It gets so much better, I promise.”  He sniffed and sat up.  “But in order to live that life, to find that love, you have to get better.”  He laid his hand across hers.  “I’ll always be here for you, Kara.”  

A commotion in the hallway, footsteps and low voices drew his attention.  Not wanting to face down any more of Kara’s fiercely protective friends or explain his presence, he gave Kara’s hand one final squeeze and silently exited the medbay.

 

Cat

Security in secret government locations became a lot easier when you had an entourage of Secret Service along for the ride.  She was frisked, briefed, given a badge and escorted through a series of stairways and hallways before being led into a brightly lit room with a single hospital bed.  In that bed lay the hero of National City.

Cat’s breath caught in her throat.  Kara had been brutalized, all that beautiful strength was gone.  She looked… small.  There wasn’t an inch of her face that wasn’t covered in bruises or abrasions.  She was bandaged and tubed and so very still.  Cat couldn’t remember a moment she’d spent in Kara’s presence that the girl had ever been… still.  She nearly always vibrated with energy.  She was dynamic and bright and full to the brim of life… until now.  Now she was quiet, muted, like someone had dimmed her lights so her colors didn’t shine as bright.

“Oh, Kara,” she whispered.  She turned to her security detail.  “Wait outside.”  They made no move to leave.  “Now!” she shouted, her patience waning quickly.  The men left, but took up sentry on either side of the door.

“Well,” she said as she walked to the bed and stood next to Kara, “the goon squad isn’t far, but if I talk softly, they won’t hear.”  She reached for Kara’s cheek, but pulled back, then made to place her hand on Kara’s stomach, an attempt at contact, but pulled away again.  She settled for laying her hand atop Kara’s and taking a seat on the chair beside the bed.  “You brave, stupid girl.  When I said ‘dive’, Kara, I didn’t mean off a damn building.”

She entwined her fingers in Kara’s.  “I always wondered how our hands would fit together you know?  I wasn’t supposed to wonder that.  Those were very dangerous waters, wondering about the warmth and softness and strength of your assistant’s hands.  So, everytime I wondered about your hands, or your arms or your hair or your lips, I would say something inspiring but mildly insulting and I felt a little better… until you would smile and the wondering started all over again.”

Cat tilted her head and let her thumb stroke the back of Kara’s hand.  Cat marveled at it.  She expected cool, steel.  What she felt instead was warm and inviting.  Cat couldn’t stop the runaway train of her imagination.  She thought about all the places she had thought about those hands.  She imagined feeling the miles of that flawless skin as her eyes tracked from their joined hands, up Kara’s arm, under the hospital gown to the curve of her neck where her head lolled to the side.  She took in Kara's closed eyes and wished silently that the first time she'd witnessed Kara asleep could have been somewhere more private and intimate .

She’d planned on telling her, someday; once the barrier between boss and employee had been removed and when her time in the White House was over.  Cat had been making plans in her head for months, years if she was honest with herself.  The same way she had dreamed up CatCo at her tiny metal desk in the Planet’s filthy bullpen, she had this all mapped out;Olivia’s offer had simply expedited the process.  A year as White House Press Secretary would lead to a year as Olivia’s Communications Director.  She’d network, make contacts, learn to make policy and write law and shape her own message, meet the right people.  When the time came she would come home and run for senator, or governor.  With any luck, her own presidential run was less than ten years away.  But in every daydream, every possible scenario, one thing remained consistent.  Kara Danvers was by her side in every single one.  

She knew it was silly and unrealistic, pining for a woman half her age who was busy building her life as a superhero, but Cat couldn’t help it.  Sweet, unassuming Kara Danvers had crawled into her heart and filled every corner with that intoxicating light.  And Cat wanted her.

Without thinking about it, Cat had risen from the chair and sat herself on the narrow strip of bed next to Kara.  She stroked her hand through Kara’s golden locks and drew it down to cup her cheek.  “I’ll say the words when you’re awake someday, Kara, I promise.  This feeling I have for you, this pull between us, it’s too important to keep to myself.  And when you dropped from that roof, I think a tiny piece of me dropped with you.  I needed to come to you.  I needed to tell you.  And it may never go anywhere and it may just be the outrageous dreams of a lonely woman, but it’s important to me that you know… that… I love you, Kara Danvers.

She was crying now.  She didn’t realize until a warm tear dropped onto the pristine sheets between them.  She chuckled mirthlessly at herself.  “I’m very glad you’re asleep.”  She sat in silence for a few long moments, taking the opportunity to stroke that soft, steel skin from Kara’s elbow to her wrist.  

“Okay, I changed my mind.” Cat grasped Kara’s hands and brought them both to her chest. “I’m not glad you’re asleep.  I really would like for you to wake up, so that I know you’re alright.  So I can know that you’re going to heal and that you’re going to stand up and that you’re going to go out there and be the incredible woman I know you are.  Because this is not you, Kara.  This broken, injured, sleeping woman isn’t you.  You’re too still, you’re too quiet.  You can’t be here in this bed, Kara.  You need to wake up.  Wake up dammit!”  She was standing now, and shouting.  She caught herself yelling into a pair of breathtaking blue eyes, shining with tears.  All of her breath left her at once and she gripped the sheets next to Kara.  “Hi,” she breathed.

“Hi,” Kara responded.  Barely any sound left her.  Her mouth formed the word but it caught in her throat as a tear rolled down her cheek.

“You woke up.”

Kara gave a tiny shrug but winced, causing Cat to lay a gentle hand on her shoulder.  “I never could disobey you, Miss Grant.”

Cat averted her eyes and looked down to where their hands were still entwined.  “How long have you been awake?”

Kara smiled and gave Cat’s hand an affectionate squeeze.  “Long enough.”

Cat sobbed through her laughter and sat back down on the bed.  “Should I go get your sister?  She’s going to want to take a look at you.”

Kara took Cat’s hand and entwined their fingers again.  “In a minute.  I want to hear more about those daydreams of yours.”

Cat rolled her eyes.  “Brazen.  Some things never change.”  Cat stood.  She hesitated for a brief moment before decision colored her eyes and she leaned over and brushed a warm kiss against Kara’s forehead.  Kara lifted her hand and threaded her fingers through the curls at the back of Cat’s neck, holding her close but not asking for more.  Cat lingered there, taking in Kara’s clean scent, letting her lips brush against Kara’s hairline gently.

She pulled away with a sigh.  “I’ll go find Alex.”

Kara nodded but stopped Cat before she could leave the room.  “Hey Cat?”  Her voice was still weak, but she was smiling.  “Can you stay in town, for a little while?”

Cat gripped the doorjamb.  “Of course,” and she ducked away to find Alex.


End file.
